IT’S BACK!!!

Our favorite new tradition is back and better than ever. Why you ask? Because this year we’re partnering with Maya Ali and Co. to bring you something extra special.

Let’s start at the beginning; which is a very nice place to start. Last year we created our Mama’s Wishlist. We made it for the moms who work hard all year long. The ones who make birthdays extra special and boo-boos hurt a little less. The ones who pick up on every subtle hint on what their loved ones fancy and jump at the chance to make it happen. We made this wishlist because let’s face it, we’re awesome and all about the details; the people we spend most of our time with, may not be. To help level the playing field, we bring to you our Mama’s Christmas Wishlist! Print it, fill it out and send it over to your loving family. The guesswork is now minimal, making more time for cookie baking and Christmas light viewing 🙂

To make things even more enjoyable this holiday season, we’re giving away THE BEST BAG EVER (and a few other surprises) to the winner of our next giveaway!

Backstory: we met Jacqueline early last year at a trade show in Las Vegas. My assistant and I were standing at Starbucks waiting for our non-sweetened Venti green teas when a woman came up to us and asked about my bag. She said her daughter sold similar bags and that if we were interested, to come to their booth once we got our beverages. A few minutes later we were surrounded by the most gorgeous grouping of handcrafted leather and handwoven bags, backpacks, accessories and more. My assistant and I were in love, and in awe. Jacqueline told us that her family in Guatemala were the ones creating these masterpieces:

“Maya Ali & Co. was founded in 1940 by our great grandmothers. For years we’ve been in the Guatemalan handmade business, we’ve mainly focused on doing wholesale, until recently this year we decided to retail and join the online world.

A lot of the huipils we use are made by either our family members or town friends from our hometown Chichicastenango. We try to use the best huipils, and leather. There are so many stores out there that try and sell similar products to ours, but I guess you could say we stand out from everyone, because till this day everyone that is part of Maya Ali & Co, is 100% indigenous blood, including myself.

We know Guatemala and our culture like no one else, and so when we create our products, to us it’s more than just an item, it’s a piece of history. And that’s what we want to share with the world through our brand. We want to give our customers quality over quantity, and history at the same time.”

This takes us to present day (pun intended). This year we are selecting one lucky mama who participates in our Mama’s Christmas Wishlist giveaway to receive a Medium Huipil Convertable bag (valued at over $250!) and a $200 store credit to WeeStructed! To enter, simply fill out our wishlist pdf and post your list on Instagram with the hashtag #weestructedwishlist FOLLOW BOTH ACCOUNTS @weestructed and @mayaaliandco on Instagram. You have until November 15th to post your list! The winner will be chosen that evening and notified within 24 hours. Remember to have fun with it!

Earlier this Summer we contacted Lakeshore (one of our favorite stores, EVER) to see if they would be interested in doing a giveaway for the beginning of the new school year; they graciously said yes (eep!).

So, to kick off back to school season, Lakeshore and WeeStructed have teamed up to bring a deserving teacher a bit more fun and fascination to their classroom. Many teachers across the nation are handed small to non-existent budgets for their classes to work with, leaving little to the imagination. Our educators end up spending their own wages on necessary supplies for the classroom and their students. Its an uphill battle, and we as parents, need to help when we can.

For our back to school giveaway, Lakeshore will be providing one awesome educator with the 3 Little Pigs STEM Kit for their classroom and WeeStructed will be giving away a $50 shop credit to spend on any of our Teaching Tiny Humans is Exhausting merchandise. To enter the giveaway, simply follow both WeeStructed and Lakeshore on Instagram. Comment on WeeStructed’s morning post (9AM) and tell us who your favorite educator is and why they’re so special to you and your family. Giveaway will go until Sunday evening (6PM). Winner will be notified on Monday to claim their prizes.

Remember to thank the teachers in your life. After Summer is over and we, as parents, get to breathe a bit easier again while the kids are in school, we realize the impact and the importance of educators. They seriously are the sanity in our children’s lives (and our’s). Hallelujah!

Read below to find out about STEM Kits and the growing benefits of having your kids use them throughout their schooling.

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. These kits are great for kids as young as 4 and go up to the high school level. I personally love them for home school Fridays. Each pack contains the materials needed for the experiment, teacher cards to explain the lesson plan and reusable step by step instruction cards for the kids. I originally bought this pack for my littlest human (in preschool), but my 3rd grader joined in as well.

I love that these kits are all based on trial and error until the student comes up with a solution. I’ve talked to many of the teachers at the charter school my kids attend, and they agree. Kids need flexibility and reasons to experiment. Everyone comes to the solution from a different path. It’s a great resource and product to have on hand!

Thanks to Lakeshore for the partnership on this giveaway. To learn more about STEM Kits and all of the other amazing products Lakeshore carries in their stores, visit lakeshorelearning.com

As stated earlier in our Instagram stories (and our latest post), we donated much needed diapers to the Texas Diaper Bank through their wish list on amazon.com.

To my surprise, and to the surprise of many, disaster relief agencies do not provide families with diapers for young, and old. Imagine having to up and leave your home at a moments notice, with little in hand, only to realize you can’t get the necessary supplies for the tiniest humans in your family. It’s heart wrenching.

It is crucial that we come together as a community, and as a nation, to help those most affected by Hurricane Harvey. There are several ways you can help out with the click of a button:

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Visit Today.com for info and links on how to donate diapers and other goods through Amazon Wish lists. Multiple organizations and non-profits are listed with the necessary supplies to help those in need. Link available here:

Back to school means back to the realities of routine and the daily hustle of life. We make sure our kids have their annual physical, dental check-ups and are in tip-top shape for the new school year but we often let ourselves fall by the way side.

Having our littles in school doesn’t mean we have a ton of free time I mean in the blink of an eye and one Target errand trip it’s pick up time again am I right? But it does mean we have some freedom and availability to spend a little bit of our time focusing on ourselves and well-being. I’m as guilty as the next for letting myself go, forgetting to make that doctor’s appointment or hit the gym but as the saying goes “you can’t pour from an empty cup” now can you?

The US Preventive Task Force recommends screening for cervical cancer in women age 21 to 65 years with cytology (Pap smear) every 3 years or, for women age 30 to 65 years who want to lengthen the screening interval, screening with a combination of cytology and human papillomavirus (HPV) testing every 5 years.

I realized that I haven’t been to see my OB/GYN since my 6-week after care appointment with our last baby and hello he’s FOUR now! Needless to say it was time ladies time to make sure I’m healthy for not only my sake but for the sake of raising my babies. I urge you all to take some time this back to school season to get a physical if you need one, see your OB/GYN, take a yoga class, start walking, read a book and focus on your health and well-being to fill that cup over…. it’ll make us all better wives, mothers and friends if we are healthy and happy for our loved ones.

I’m happy to report I’m staring my personal check list of care items this month I can check off my pap and female health check up and I have a physical scheduled for next month so I’m off to a great start investing some time in my health…..now its your turn!

I hope this little reminder helps to motivate you to make those appointments and invest a little time in yourself mama!

You saw my son, with his big brown eyes and beautiful contagious smile. You watched him run into the park with adventure pulsing through his little body. You saw me follow behind reminding him to be aware and considerate of the couple of kids there, you smiled at me and said hi.

More kids came, the park is getting louder, I’m all out of the snack my son asked for, the blue car he wants is at home, the ice in his cup has melted and now he begins to melt as well. He screams, he threw his green car that just 20 seconds ago he was happily driving around the park. I quickly scoop him up and hold him tight, he starts hitting me. I can feel you watching me, I can see the judgment. He bit me, it broke the skin and I’m bleeding. You’re still watching.

I don’t raise my voice, I don’t get angry. He is the storm and for him, I have to be the calm. This is a sensory meltdown and he is incapable of controlling himself. It will end and he will go back to happily driving around his car, or it won’t end here and I’ll take him to where he feels safe and can come back to me. You might still be watching and that’s ok. You might have hastily taken your child away like others have done and that’s ok too.

This is his battle, this is the battle I pick and it is the one I will always pick. Your judgement is not my battle.

To all of you out there fighting a similar fight, you are not alone.

Fate whispers to the Warrior, you cannot withstand the storm. The warrior whispers back, I am the storm.

world breast-feeding week

When the lovely Oat Mama asked us to join in this years ‘Mother Together’ event it was a no brainer for us. Having successfully nursed all three of my babies breastfeeding is something I’m passionate about as a mother and as a woman I love to help support other women during their nursing journey… it’s not always the easiest journey.

Nursing was not something that personally came easy to me or without many struggles, meltdowns and hours of lactation help. My nursing journey was filled with all of the above and you can safely say I had every emotion during my early nursing experiences with our first-born. From using an SNS system to six months on a nipple shield with bruised and battered black boobs that ultimately ended up fighting double mastitis TWICE you can say I truly got the FULL experience as a first time nursing mother.

Somehow through it all with the love and support of my husband who I might add was the real pro nursing advocate in the beginning (I was not) and the help of a wonderful free lactation weekly support group in my town I survived those early years as a breast-feeding mother. I went on to successfully nurse our sweet daughter until she was 18 months followed by our second for 19 months and finally our last baby for two years. Had I not had the support systems in place with a loving husband, helpful tribe of women and nurses along with local groups I honestly don’t think I would have survived it ladies.

Now my nursing days are long behind me but when I see a mama nursing in public I give her a smile and nod or even most recently I was visiting my dear friend who is pumping for two I tried to give her extra encouragement (she’s pretty bad ass Hello TWINS) lets face it we all can use that ‘Mother together’ comradery whether you choose to nurse, formula feed, or do both Mama’s gotta stick together ladies we’re in it TOGETHER!!! #fedisbest

In the spirit of sticking together and showing Moms some love we are so excited to be in this year’s ‘Mother Together’ shopping guide with over 30+ stores all giving YOU some discount love to celebrate your journey during world breast feeding week. Click on this link https://www.oatmama.com/pages/mother-together-shopping-guide to see all the amazing shops coming together!!

healthy meals are my Nemesis

Being a mompreneur to three kids while running this little business doesn’t always leave me much time to focus on healthy eating or eating in general LOL. Between the summer hustle of playdates and sports commitments I honestly haven’t had that overabundance of time I thought I’d have to start eating better. I’ve been exploring some options of local meal prep services and some home delivery companies to take some of the stress and workload off my busy plate so giving Freshly a try was a no brainer for this busy mama.

Freshly is a company that is composed of chefs who work to cook your meals weekly and can be prepared in three minutes….even I can spare three minutes to eat a good meal if it’s on hand!

These meals help make eating convenient, healthy, delicious, and sustainable! They are served fresh and are kept chilled through ice packs in the refrigerated boxes which leaves the meals delicious and as fresh as possible.

I got four gourmet meals shipped right to my door which included Chicken Parmigiana, Penne Bolognese, Veggie Fried Rice, and Shrimp Fajita. With Freshly you can pick meals from a changing menu where you custom make your meal plan for the week. The facility is gluten and peanut free to limit cross contamination and will accommodate dietary preferences. Plans are also easy to cancel which makes Freshly that much more convenient as you are not committed to an every week schedule and can cancel whenever you please!

This awesome lifesaver package arrived just in time for my busy week and was perfectly packed and chilled even in our 105 degree SoCal weather.

I poured myself a nice refreshing glass of water and dug right into my four meal pack. Our newest pint glass makes the perfect cold beverage companion on a hot day.

My first meal was this yummy Penne Bolognese which happens to be a specialty of my husbands so I’m a tough critic but this yummy pasta dish sure passed my test.

Meal two was this zesty Shrimp fajita and fresh roasted corn I added a side of lime and a cold sparking lime water on the side. This was the perfect easy dinner after taking my boys to football practice ….three minutes and dinner was served! Our stemless Motherhood winging it glass was perfect for my mini mama fiesta.

For my third meal I had this amazing Chicken Parmigiana and broccoli with a sparking water….a nice wine would have been better but I forgot the wine section on my last shopping trip distracted mom fail because ‘raising tiny humans is exhausting’ and you forget the important things like WINE!

My final Freshly meal was this tasty veggie fried rice which made the PERFECT workday healthy lunch option for me. I normally just eat a quick sandwich of whatever my littlest left on his plate.

I loved everything I received in my four meal plan pack and ease of having these healthy options on hand and ready in under three minutes is truly a busy mama’s lifesaver so thank you FRESHLY for taking some of the stress off this week for me.

Our new friends at Freshly are giving our followers a chance to try their service with a special code. Use code: dlvr638, which gives first time Freshly users $20 off their 6 meal plan!!!!!

Last week my kids and I were invited to participate in the Murrieta Rocks Facebook which is a simple DIY project to spend time with your kids and brightening up someones day with a cute painted rock with a positive message.

The kids and I spent all afternoon together painting something positive and then we placed them around Murrieta Town Square. We helped contribute to making Murrieta a more positive and supportive city and we hope more people join in!

Share your rocks with us on Facebook or Instagram using hashtag #weestructedrocks… hope to see more encouragement and positivity around town!

The first day of summer calls for a fiesta

I’ll admit it: we Southern Californians are spoiled with the weather. We basically have a uniform of tees and flip flops all year round, and get upset when we have to put on more than a lightweight sweater. In true form, we find it necessary to celebrate the first day of Summer, our most favorite of the seasons. No school, late sunsets and Taco Tuesday every day of the week.

And this year for the Summer Solstice, we’ve decided to pair up with a few of our favorite Southern California-based brands to bring you a mini fiesta with (what we consider) Cali Essentials. Enjoy!

Ingredients for a successful mini fiesta:

Chips! We love chips. Like, we may be obsessed with them. And Cabo Chips may be our newest obsession. Non-GMO, gluten free and DELICIOUS with multiple flavors to choose from. This SoCal brand is seriously rad, and can be found at Whole Foods and here: cabochips.com

We recently came across O.C. based shop Live Styled, and instantly fell in love with their clean aesthetic. Plus, who doesn’t love a onesie with a bit of humor?! Grab one for your lil bebe here: lifestyledshop.com

And just for our viewers, Live Styled is offering a discount code. Take 15% off your purchase of pouches, mama, baby and toddler items when you use LIVESTYLED15 at checkout.

What better way to claim your love for being a California mama than with our OG design “Cali Mama” trucker hat?! Lightweight and perfect for the beach, river or around town shopping, this cap speaks for itself. Pick yours up here: weestructed.com

Our Cali Cub trucker is the perfect head gear to get your wee ones through those warm summer days. The mesh back keeps their noggins well ventilated and ready for action. Will fit ages 2-12. Pick a few up for your tiny humans here: weestructed.com

Use code: MOMMYANDME for 20% the purchase of Cali Mama and Cali Cub hats!

In today’s day and age, it’s hard to define one’s self a with a single word. We are more than just mom, business owner, or grocery store connoisseur. We are a combination of these (along with a slew of about 3,496 other words at any given moment). We are our own superhero on the good days, and our worst critic on the not-so-good days. But somehow, we always manage to make it through. We are the WORKING CLASS MOM club, and we are awesome.

For me personally, the last few years have been exceptionally trying. Starting a business while raising 3 tiny humans is insanity, but also amazing. They are, obviously, the inspiration for WeeStructed, and without them, this pipe dream would have never happened. WORKING CLASS MOM was heavily influenced by this juxtaposition between my life and work, and my love for John Lennon. Go figure.

If you’ve been contemplating your current season of life with mom hood, work life, or a combination of those and other obstacles/struggles/life nonsense, we salute and support you! You are indeed, a WORKING CLASS MOM, and you are a badass mama.

Below I’ve listed a few of my favorite go-to’s when in full #bosslady mode. They help to keep me a little more organized during the day so I can get back to mom life a bit sooner.

I love a good ringer tee, hence my need to make this. Super soft and lightweight. Perfect for you to wear during the upcoming Summer months while you conquer the world. Find your size here: weestructed.com

Handmade coasters by the ever so lovely Madison & Grand. These are seriously the cutest, and add a touch of warmth to any office space. Check them out here: madisonandgrand.com

I don’t know about you, but gold anything makes me feel fancy. Check out these rad shears from Nate Berkus for Target. Heavy duty with a touch of class. Get yourself a pair here: target.com

Sometimes we need a quick pick-me-up in the middle of the day. And while Prosecco is preferred, a small affirmation plaque can be just as gratifying. I keep this baby on my desk for when I’m feeling a little less-than stellar. Grab one here: amazon.com

Bando seriously makes the CUTEST AGENDAS you guys. I’m currently waiting for my 2018 edition to come in the mail 🙂 Find your inner organized diva and treat her to one of these beauties. They even come with pages of stickers; STICKERS! Get it here: bando.com

Mini plaques are where it’s at! We recently started stocking these lil guys and I couldn’t be more stoked. Put it on your desk and remind yourself that you are indeed, a Mother Tasker! Pick up one (or three) here: weestructed.com